With the world’s eyes and ears fixated on the tightening U.S. presidential primaries, almost every aspect of every campaign is going under the microscope of the 24-hour news cycle. As it has already been demonstrated, a single tear or simple turn of phrase can become an international headline within seconds.
However, one facet that often escapes commentary on the campaign trail is music. Every campaign uses popular music to bookend political events and speeches—mainly to serve as entry and exit themes—and like all aesthetic choices made by political organizations, these selections are carefully made with a specific purpose in mind.
But things weren’t always this way. In the 19th century, the campaign song emerged as a way to further brand a candidate and his running mate. Political speeches were long and often tedious—not the kind of rhetoric that would stick easily in your head day after day—so simple songs were concocted to make it more memorable. Functioning like a commercial jingle, these early political tunes were devised specifically for a campaign, and often incorporated the candidate’s name into the title.
The song “Tip and Ty” was written in 1840 for William Henry Harrison’s campaign and referenced his famous campaign slogan, “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” The song had a sweeping effect and helped Harrison defeat his rival Martin Van Buren. This spurred the trend of the custom campaign song. “Little Mac, Big Mac, You’re the Very Man,” was composed for ex-General George McClellan’s 1864 bid for the White House (he lost to his old boss Abraham Lincoln), while the 1888 contest saw incumbent Grover Cleveland commission the ditty, “Hurrah! Hurrah! for Cleve and Steve” for his unsuccessful bid for re-election.
Campaign songs fell from popularity after the First World War, but underwent a comeback during the 1932 campaign when Franklin Delano Roosevelt employed the tune “Happy Days Are Here Again”— composed in 1929—to bring an upbeat spirit to otherwise depressing times. This idea of re-purposing an existing theme and lyrics for a political end became the new norm. In 1960 John F. Kennedy featured Frank Sinatra’s “High Hopes” to defeat Richard Nixon, while George McGovern used Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in his own troubled campaign against then-president Nixon.
More recent campaign songs of note include Ronald Reagan’s use of “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen in 1984, (Springsteen asked Reagan to stop using the song), and Bill Clinton’s nowfamous use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” in his 1992 bout with president George H. W. Bush.
So where do the 2008 candidates stand on campaign music? On the Republican side, we find Rudy Giuliani repping three tracks: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, “Stand Back” by Stevie Nicks, and “Fly Like an Eagle” by Seal. An interesting selection, sure, but wouldn’t he’d be better off going it alone with “Eye of the Tiger?” Featured in Rocky III, it’s easy to make a mental connection from Sylvester Stallone to anti-terrorism in his signature issue, 9/11.
When he’s not on his straight talk express, John McCain has been blasting “I Will Hold My Ground” by Tennessee country sensation Darryl Worley. While unfamiliar, this song is decidedly less confrontational than McCain’s recent impromptu re-write of Beach Boys classic “Barbara Ann,” where he sang “bomb Iran.”
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney, fresh off his big primary win in Michigan on Tuesday, has recently busted out that old Junkie XL remix of Elvis’s “A Little Less Conversation” at rallies, making people wonder if this actually is 2008, and not 2002.
Do Democrats have better taste? John Edwards has entertained supporters by blaring a mix CD featuring songs by Elvis and Kanye West (which says John Edwards does care about black people), and the Foo Fighter’s plausibly-political hard-rock anthem “Times Like These.”
Hillary Clinton took a populist approach to campaign music, asking her supporters to vote online for her official song. While the initial selection—which included U2’s “City of Blinding Lights,” Smash Mouth’s “I’m a Believer,” Dixie Chicks’ “Ready to Run,” and Jesus Jones’ “Right Here, Right Now”—suggests that she has bad taste in music, the eventual winner, “You and I” by Celine Dion, proves that her supporters’ taste is even worse.
Her chief rival, senator Barack Obama, has chosen to go with Ben Harper’s “Better Way,” which should really net the stoner vote. Obama has also been the recipient of a swell of support from figures in the music community. Recent endorsements for his candidacy have come from Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, Jeff Tweedy, Chicago hiphop duo The Cool Kids, and Conor “Bright Eyes” Oberst.
He’s also had one famous nonendorsement, courtesy of Republican rocker Ted Nugent. Back in August Nugent had some choice words for both Obama and Clinton while performing onstage. Holding two machine guns, Nugent yelled: “Obama, he’s a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary,” he added, “You might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.” Nugent then screamed “freedom!” to wild applause.
It’s easy to see that politics and music share an uneasy relationship. While modern candidates would like voters to think that their selections of popular music demonstrate a connection to youth culture (and throughout that, a sense of virility), these hits are more appropriately seen as tools used by campaigns to reinforce a political message by playing off re-purposed lyrics and vague themes. Any true connection to youth culture has to flow the other way, through the makers of cool music endorsing a candidate on their own.
